11/15/07--My 1st week in Ethiopia

So I am sitting here in the guest house I am staying
at, thinking. Thinking hard about all that’s going
on. Today I went by the Black Lion hospital to see
what Operation Smile was all about – it’s a non-profit
with a mission to repair as many cleft lip genetic
defects of children as they can. These past 2 weeks
has been their 25th anniversary so doctors, nurses,
volunteers from around the world are paying and taking
time to serve for 2 weeks in 40 different countries.
I was able to see the whole pre-op and post-op and it
was incredible. It was extremely moving to see the
all sorts of different people around the world
gathered here in Ethiopia committed to making a
difference. Some of the parents and older children
were in tears thanking the American doctors. It was
extremely moving to see. I hope that I can someday be
in a position of influence to give back in an
incredible way like that.

It has now been officially 2 weeks today for my time
here in Africa. It’s been one week in Kenya and now 1
week in Ethiopia.

My schedule has been so this past week in Ethiopia:
Mon, Wed, Fri -- serve at the Hope school (a school
for underprivileged kids, orphans) – teaching English
in some classes, playing/teaching soccer sports in
their PE class, helping other Ethiopian teachers lead
their classes.
Tues, Thurs -- serve at the Hope feeding center. In
the early morning, we feed about 15 homeless orphan
children about 5 years old. Beautiful hearts they
have. Dirty and scruffy but beautiful to see God in
them. Matteos, the campus pastor for Hope gives a
little sermon to them, and then we play soccer
together, and then we feed them. Later in the
morning, about 700 homeless people gather at the
feeding center for food. Truly incredible to see the
never-ending line of people who come. It’s so
heartbreaking to see and I offered up a little prayer
to God for them. I don’t quite understand how such
poverty can exist in this world.

Since I’ve been here in Ethiopia, I truly love the
country. Because the British never colonized it, there
are so many unique and different traditions and perks
the country has kept. It is truly different- it’s
calendar year, it’s time, it’s culture, and even it’s
incredible food!

In my time away so far and here in Ethiopia, I have
been sensing God’s gentle nudge to be a difference
maker back behind the scenes. I love the crowd, being
social, and connecting with people -- which I think is
one of my gifts, however I have been sensing God
teaching me His humble ways through service away from
the crowd and the applause for being such a noble
servant. Like today at the Hope feeding center, I
folded 100’s of angera’s (this is their staple food
for all meals in Ethiopia and especially easy to make
for the homeless Hope feeds) for hours. There was
nothing spectacular about what I was doing -- I wasn’t
talking and connecting with the people, I was just in
the back, folding, and folding, and folding those
angera’s. But folding for God. Folding for the sake
of folding those silly little angera’s. For some
reason it was very moving for me in its beautiful
simplicity. In the past, I would casually avoid doing
a service project that entailed doing busy work behind
the scenes. I wanted the real juice of knowing I made
a direct impact right then and there, out in front,
connecting with people, laughing, singing. And
folding angera’s is anything but that. But God
somehow made His way through my heart to speak freedom
and love in those little moments, just folding angera
after angera, making little wedge pizza shapes to put
on the plates.

Perhaps it moved me too because I expected to come to
Africa parting the red sea, being in relationship with
all the children I interacted with so that they might
come to know and love the God I love, and ironically,
I’ve been doing a lot of busy work behind the scenes.
And I sense God saying: Callie it all matters. It all
matters in My Kingdom. I sensed His freedom today
folding those angera’s and talking small talk with
some of the children at the Hope school this past
week. Nothing grandiose. Just little acts of service
in my heart to strive to honor God in all I’m doing
here. Very difficult but with the time I have here to
reflect, I am striving to come to God each day in
prayer with cleans hands and a humble heart.

I am learning patience as everything is slow and
people tend to run behind here and I see how impatient
I can be!, I am learning humilty in the way people
interact here, I am learning grace from the natives
here in the way they freely extend their hearts to
strangers, I am learning even that I don’t think being
in full-time ministry is where I am called to be, I am
learning how I don’t pray as often as I’d like to --
thinking my prayers to God don’t really matter in the
end with all the poverty and sickness around me, and
then I am also learning that God is everywhere, even
in folding angera’s.

May the goodness of God forever reign in this world.

Prayers requests: for the children I am with on Tues
and Thurs mornings at the Hope feeding center, the
children at Hope school, the homeless we feed at the
center – that they all may come to know the deep and
all-pervasive love of God the Father. Also, I ask for
prayers for health for me. I am sick with a bad sinus
infection and so tired at the end of the day. I need
my strength these next 2 weeks.